I have appointments once every six months. It's a 3-hour drive, one way. Rather than look at that as a hardship, my husband takes a sick day off (for a Dr appointment for a family member). We schedule each appointment for either a Friday or a Monday, so it is next to a weekend day. And, we book a night in a motel and make a mini-vacation weekend out of it.
We book through Priceline and bid to get an inexpensive room. We've always had good luck with that in KC. In smaller cities, it's hard to get a good deal. We usually get a room in one of the Extended Stay suites and it includes a kitchen. It generally costs us less than $40 a night, including taxes and fees.
Last time we did that, we were assigned to an Extended Stay suite motel that we had not stayed in before. Each room had an outside door, and it was a two-story motel. We were assigned a room on the second floor, which required climbing a long flight of outdoor stairs, which were covered in snow and ice.
We went back to the front desk and requested a first floor room, after explaining my MS challenges. The motel clerk talked with another clerk for awhile, and finally assigned us to a room. When we arrived to the half-open door, it was obvious what had caused their delay in making a decision. The room smelled horribly like cigarette smoke, and, in Overland Park, KS (the suburb we were in), it is illegal to smoke in any motel rooms.
We called the front desk and they explained that was their only main floor room. They apologized for the smell and explained that was the reason it had not been rented out. They were trying to air it out. They offered us either that room, or the option to go to the second story room that we had originally been booked in. Because the room had been prepaid via Priceline, and priceline does not offer refunds (except they did a partial one once for me, in the case of a hospitalization, with official documentation).
We took that room, and, when the option came, after returning home, to fill out a motel survey online, I explained the problem. So, we got a free room, which we are using in a nicer Extended Stay motel that we've been in before.
Yay! Maybe it was worth having the awful night, since we get a free one now.
We book through Priceline and bid to get an inexpensive room. We've always had good luck with that in KC. In smaller cities, it's hard to get a good deal. We usually get a room in one of the Extended Stay suites and it includes a kitchen. It generally costs us less than $40 a night, including taxes and fees.
Last time we did that, we were assigned to an Extended Stay suite motel that we had not stayed in before. Each room had an outside door, and it was a two-story motel. We were assigned a room on the second floor, which required climbing a long flight of outdoor stairs, which were covered in snow and ice.
We went back to the front desk and requested a first floor room, after explaining my MS challenges. The motel clerk talked with another clerk for awhile, and finally assigned us to a room. When we arrived to the half-open door, it was obvious what had caused their delay in making a decision. The room smelled horribly like cigarette smoke, and, in Overland Park, KS (the suburb we were in), it is illegal to smoke in any motel rooms.
We called the front desk and they explained that was their only main floor room. They apologized for the smell and explained that was the reason it had not been rented out. They were trying to air it out. They offered us either that room, or the option to go to the second story room that we had originally been booked in. Because the room had been prepaid via Priceline, and priceline does not offer refunds (except they did a partial one once for me, in the case of a hospitalization, with official documentation).
We took that room, and, when the option came, after returning home, to fill out a motel survey online, I explained the problem. So, we got a free room, which we are using in a nicer Extended Stay motel that we've been in before.
Yay! Maybe it was worth having the awful night, since we get a free one now.
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